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Last week, the students of Universidad Católica in various faculties including Art, History, Theater, Geography, Political Science, and Literature went on “paro” or strike. There have been many student led strikes in Chile’s history for various reasons such as for the demand of better quality education for people with lower income. This strike was spurred by the university's inadequate action after multiple cases and complaints of sexual assault.
It is generally more common for students in Universidad de Chile to go on strike because it is a public university and it has to face challenges that U. Católica students generally don’t have to deal with. However, this time around the reason for the strike was something that university students in the U.S. are all too familiar with: mishandling cases of sexual violence.
The students studying Arts, Music, Theater, etc. on Campus Oriente were the first to mobilize in protest. The cause for their uproar was the fact that even after multiple allegations of sexual abuse a Professor or faculty member of the university was not persecuted in any way. Although I do not know any of the details, I know that it was enough to initiate an entire student-led overtake of Campus Oriente for multiple days.
I learned that GW has had a history of student protests as well, but the last large mobilization was in an anti-war effort in 1967 when students organized sit-ins in Thurston. In comparison, I think the Chilean students have much more frequent and powerful protests. As much as GW may brag about being highly politically active, I see a severe lack of student-led action when it comes to initiating change. I see this to be true not only in school, even the Women’s March in DC seemed to be more of a celebration than a protest, especially compared to the mobilization here in Santiago on international women’s day. My observations make me wonder, why are people so compliant and quiet in the nation known for freedom of speech and protest?